I've had a few customers looking for the 250P25 32V Locomotive headlight bulbs. None of my suppliers have any and have informed me that they are no longer being produced by anyone. I have a manufacturer willing to produce a minimum of 600 pcs, but am trying to figure out if there is still demand for these bulbs. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

I started beating the bushes back in August of last year when I wanted to order more from Aamsco but they were out of stock. The owner of Aamsco was trying to get some manufactured too and he thought he had a lead in Mexico but that fell through.

Oh, and if you think your OK with new old stock, think again. I was lucky enough to get some NOS bulbs from a friend and the first three I put in made yellow smoke and blew out. Come to find out that the adhesive used to seal the metal to the glass dries out, looses vacuum and puff! I did find a couple of guys who would sell me NOS bulbs for $50-$100, come on..........

And as far as an LED replacement no-one makes them either and I am not sure it would work with the reflector properly.

So count me in for a few dozen and I strongly suggest those of you out there still running single headlights on diesels should too. I also would hate to see a steamer with dual sealed beam housings....

Scott

robertmacdowell

Post subject: Re: 250P25 32V Locomotive Headlight Bulbs

Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2015 10:02 pm

Joined: Thu Nov 22, 2007 5:46 amPosts: 2523Location: S.F. Bay Area

Scott, the thing with LEDs is the "bulbfixture" really needs to be designed for the application. Specifically the light should aim in the direction you want, and not use the reflector at all. Reflected light is inefficient.

For instance I had a tail marker with about 160 degrees of the light hitting a fresnel lens and the rest hit a reflector. I installed an LED with about 160 degree spread and with emitter array in about the same position as the filament. This gave a nice "pinpoint" of light as originally intended.

nevans1133

Post subject: Re: 250P25 32V Locomotive Headlight Bulbs

Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2015 11:07 am

Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2012 12:17 pmPosts: 36

LED's would be great but for now there is no other option that I know of for those who are still using these bulbs. Just trying to gauge how many people are still using and would be interested in buying these. Like Scott said I'd be wary of paying a premium for New Old Stock because there is a shelf life.

The bulbs would retail for around $29 each for a minimum run of 600 pcs. and $19 each for an order of 1000 pcs.

David H. Hamley

Post subject: Re: 250P25 32V Locomotive Headlight Bulbs

Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2015 11:49 am

Joined: Tue Aug 24, 2004 3:07 pmPosts: 653

There were two versions of this bulb. One with a medium screw base, and another with a medium bayonet base.

Which one (or both) is being proposed for replication?

nevans1133

Post subject: Re: 250P25 32V Locomotive Headlight Bulbs

Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2015 12:23 pm

Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2012 12:17 pmPosts: 36

Medium Screw Base, sorry I should have mentioned that earlier.

Scott Kwiatkowski

Post subject: Re: 250P25 32V Locomotive Headlight Bulbs

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 5:42 pm

Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 5:29 pmPosts: 261Location: Three Bridges NJ

Robert,

Yes, the LED's would work nicely in the application you described.

However, using an LED in a nice Pyle National 14" headlight fixture and looking at the white futuristic light and bulb would be very, lets just say to me, ugly. Now I know you can get LED's in different Kelvin ratings but you are still left with that goofy looking bulb. They don't call them Golden Glow for nothing.

Maybe I am being picky, but I have two vintage diesels with nice classic single headlights and want to keep them that way. I'm pretty sure the steam guys would too.

So as far as I am concerned, I'd like to see the replacement filament type bulbs available.

Is he accurate that this is used as a steam engine headlight? That application should certainly up demand if it is true.

Scott Kwiatkowski

Post subject: Re: 250P25 32V Locomotive Headlight Bulbs

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 8:07 pm

Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 5:29 pmPosts: 261Location: Three Bridges NJ

Quote:

Is he accurate that this is used as a steam engine headlight? That application should certainly up demand if it is true.

Yup, That is the one for the 14" Pyle National headlight and I think the same one for the steam guys.

Scott

nevans1133

Post subject: Re: 250P25 32V Locomotive Headlight Bulbs

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 8:48 pm

Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2012 12:17 pmPosts: 36

Pretty sure it's the same for the steam guys. If I remember correctly I sold some to steam guys in the past when I could still get them.

m14traindude

Post subject: Re: 250P25 32V Locomotive Headlight Bulbs

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 9:04 pm

Joined: Sun Feb 03, 2013 10:36 pmPosts: 1

So I'm not sure if this would be relevant, but there is a way that you can get LED light fixtures while maintaining the look of the old school light bulbs.

Here is a picture of LED filament bulbs as sold by Lightro. Image here

Aamsco also makes a similar product under their "Hybrid LED" line. With the dimensions mentioned above it may be possible to order some of these bulbs for locomotive service. LED's of this kind enjoy 12V DC and many contain on board resistors to drop the voltage to that level. The only thing that may be required is that the number of filaments required may have in increase in order to match the light output of the original incandescent bulbs.

Pegasuspinto

Post subject: Re: 250P25 32V Locomotive Headlight Bulbs

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 11:57 pm

Joined: Fri Mar 26, 2010 11:43 amPosts: 541

LEDs are nice, nearly every bulb in my house is now LED. But some of them SUCK. who is going to do the R&D to make a drop-in replacement that is reliable? That is a small but strong bulb, little place to put a heat sink. And it's gonna cost hundreds of dollars.

One nice thing about LED is with the correct power converter, it should work fine on any voltage and would have no variation in brightness for different voltages. But I think it's something better suited for a engineered light/lens/reflector solution.

The light output necessary for a 250 Watt equivalent L.E.D. may produce too much heat for today's technology without the use of ugly cooling fins. 60 Watt equivalent seems to be the limit in household bulbs right now.

nevans1133

Post subject: Re: 250P25 32V Locomotive Headlight Bulbs

Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 10:49 am

Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2012 12:17 pmPosts: 36

At this point I have had some interest in running these bulbs but not nearly enough to think about engineering the "perfect" LED to fit this application. I'd still like to hear more feedback on how many people / organizations are currently using this bulb. I know a few organizations have "stocked up" on these bulbs but as a small business owner I can't justify stocking and holding 500 or so bulbs for a few years until they run out.

The only alternative that I've found so far is a 200P25 32V, however it's has a length of 8 inches which I don't believe will work for the headlight application and is only 200 Watts.

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